July 25, 2025
DHAKA – Indian authorities have expelled hundreds of ethnic Bangalee Muslims to Bangladesh in recent weeks without due process, claiming they are “illegal immigrants,” Human Rights Watch said yesterday.
Many of them are Indian citizens from states bordering Bangladesh, according to the report of the New York-based human rights organisation.
Since May 2025, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government has intensified operations to expel ethnic Bangalee Muslims to Bangladesh, ostensibly to deter people from entering India without legal authorisation, the report claimed.
The organisation called upon the Indian government to stop unlawfully deporting people without due process and instead ensure everyone’s access to procedural safeguards to protect against arbitrary detention and expulsion.
“India’s ruling BJP is fueling discrimination by arbitrarily expelling Bengali Muslims from the country, including Indian citizens,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The authorities’ claims that they are managing irregular immigration are unconvincing given their disregard for due process rights, domestic guarantees, and international human rights standards.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 18 people in June, including affected individuals and family members in nine cases. Those interviewed include Indian citizens who returned to India after being expelled to Bangladesh and family members of those who were detained and are still missing. On July 8, Human Rights Watch wrote to India’s Ministry of Home Affairs with the findings but received no response.
The Indian government has provided no official data on the number of people expelled, but Border Guard Bangladesh has reported that India expelled more than 1,500 Muslim men, women, and children to Bangladesh between May 7 and June 15, including about 100 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. The expulsions have continued, according to the report.
Quoting some of those apprehended, the rights organisation said Indian Border Security Force (BSF) officials threatened and assaulted them, and in a few cases, forced them to cross the border at gunpoint.
Several BJP-run state governments started rounding up Bangla-speaking Muslim migrant workers after the Ministry of Home Affairs in May set a 30-day deadline for states to “detect, identify, and deport illegal immigrants” and told local authorities to “establish adequate holding centers in each district to detain” them.